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Reposted by Stephen J. Gotts

Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 4h

NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.”
Among those RIFd:
—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;
—leadership of global health center
—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4

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Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 15h

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Ravi Menon, Ph.D. @northernthrux.bsky.social · 1d

Graphic from Nature tells an interesting story for 🇨🇦. Since 2000, 3 🇨🇦 born scientists have won prizes in physics, chemistry or medicine after leaving the country for the US. 2 UK born scientists won those prizes after moving to Canada. In that time, no 🇨🇦 born scientist has won for work done in 🇨🇦.

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Eric Columbus @ericcolumbus.bsky.social · 22h

UPDATE: Plaintiffs seek an immediate TRO blocking any RIFs
s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

At 9:27 am today, October 10, 2025, OMB Director Russell Vought posted on social media: “The RIFs have begun.” This corroborates credible information Plaintiffs began receiving earlier this morning from multiple sources that OMB has directed federal agencies government-wide to begin issuing RIF notices today. See Huddleston Declaration, filed herewith. For all the reasons explained in Plaintiffs’ Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (ECF 17), these RIFS violate the Antideficiency Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, including by requiring agency employees to unlawfully work during the shutdown, unlawfully laying off employees during the shutdown, and improperly using the shutdown as the basis for the layoffs. Plaintiffs therefore request an immediate TRO halting OMB from ordering agencies to implement RIFs, and halting the issuance of any RIF notices by any Defendant pending the Court’s already scheduled October 16, 2025 hearing on Plaintiffs’ motion. Plaintiffs are available at any time for an earlier hearing. Plaintiffs provided notice to counsel for Defendants this morning of these developments and requested confirmation that RIFs are not being issued today. At 9:56 am, counsel for Defendants confirmed: “Our understanding is that RIFs are taking place at certain agencies, and we are gathering the details to put in today’s filing as the court ordered.”

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Eric Columbus @ericcolumbus.bsky.social · 1d

OMB head Russ Vought says RIFs have begun. In litigation challenging OMB's ability to RIF during a shutdown, OMB must provide more details by 3pm PT/ 6pm ET.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Russ Vought
@russvought
The RIFs have begun.

The Court hereby ORDERS defendants to file a response to the motion for a TRO no later than October 10, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. PDT. In their response, defendants SHALL address: (1) the status of any currently planned or in-progress RIF notices to be issued during/because of the government shutdown, including the earliest date that those RIF notices will go out; (2) which of the defendant agencies anticipate issuing RIF notices during/because of the government shutdown and the estimated number of employees at the defendant agency who will receive such RIF notices; and (3) whether any employees at the defendant agencies have been ordered back to work during the government shutdown in order to effectuate the issuance of RIF notices. Defendants shall provide evidence (declarations, exhibits, etc.) in support of the above information.

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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 23h

@bbkogan.bsky.social adds the point that the work necessary to carry out mass firings is illegal during a shutdown.

Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 1d

Three key points:
1) The admin has been planning mass firings to begin in October since February
2) The work necessary to carry out mass firings is illegal during a shutdown, violating the Antideficiency Act, which carries a criminal penalty
3) This harms America, ridding us of talent and expertise

Russ Vought v @russvought
The RIFs have begun.
12:27 PM • 10/10/25 • 15K Views

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Reposted by Stephen J. Gotts

GHOULLIKEHELLMACHINE @golikehellmachine.com · 23h

“we are telling you right now that we do not intend to honor anything we agree to” is certainly a negotiating position one can take

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Q: Rescission are something Dems have said is a reason for a lack of trust. What rescissions are you discussing?

JOHNSON: We have more than $37t in debt. We're doing everything we can to get us back to sound fiscal responsibility. What does that include? A rescission package is part of our process

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Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 1d

News: Bari Weiss just sent a memo to staffers at CBS News asking them to produce a memo explaining "how you spend your working hours—and ideally, what you've made (or are making) that you're most proud of."

One CBS News staffer puts it like this to me: "We just got Elon Musked."

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 1d

It was never about “free health care for illegals.” This is always what it was about. They have no intention of “fixing” the ACA, they intend to defund it.

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Martin Schrimpf @mschrimpf.bsky.social · 3d

A glimpse at what #NeuroAI brain models might enable: a topographic vision model predicts stimulation patterns that steer complex object recognition behavior in primates. This could be a key 'software' component for visual prosthetic hardware 🧠🤖🧪

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 3d

#WarRavagedPortland

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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 3d

Picture here is from 1992. LA riots. Ive seen this called bad news judgment. In any real journalism outfit this is more like a firing offense. I basically say such things. Beyond belief.

CNN @cnn.com · 4d

"President Donald Trump and his top aides are using the word 'insurrection' more frequently to describe anti-ICE protests in places like Portland," writes Zachary B. Wolf. https://cnn.it/4pWYmzr

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Elizabeth Lopatto @lopatto.bsky.social · 4d

please read my memo www.theverge.com/business/793...

Memo to Bari Weiss Re: CBS News: You’re doomed

Bari Weiss has sold her company, The Free Press, to manage the decline of broadcast news at CBS. How many ways can it go wrong?

www.theverge.com

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

SEAN DUFFY: Burbank -- zero controllers came to work. I don't support that. They should come to work. They're supposed to come to work. But ...

KILMEADE: They didn't even miss a paycheck yet. So why aren't they coming to work?

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 5d

Michael X Cohen on why he left academia/neuroscience.
mikexcohen.substack.com/p/why-i-left...

Why I left academia and neuroscience

Don't worry, this isn't yet another story of rage-quitting.

mikexcohen.substack.com

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Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 5d

Judge Diane Goodstein crossed the Trump administration last month. Yesterday, her home burned, her husband was injured and it's being investigated for arson.

www.postandcourier.com/news/crime/s...

Judge blocks South Carolina from giving DOJ millions of voters' data
Sep. 3, 2025

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Jonathan Howard @joho.bsky.social · 7d

The sequel to We Want Them Infected is done!

COVID killed 1.2 million Americans while vaccines saved millions.

Yet, disinformation superspreaders were empowered, where they are taking a wrecking ball to science & medicine.

How did that happen?🧵

sciencebasedmedicine.org/everyone-els...

Everyone Else is Lying to You: My Book is Done!

The pandemic’s biggest disinformation superspreaders are now in charge. How did this happen?

sciencebasedmedicine.org

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Reposted by Stephen J. Gotts

Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 6d

True. And much of that was due to government contracts— not just Bell system funding.
Fundamental / basic science is a public good that markets do not support well. Only the public, through government, has the time horizon needed to make that investment rational.

Kevin J. CREATURE @kevinjkircher.com · 6d

Sometimes I think about how from 1935-1975ish, Bell Labs produced an insane amount of revolutionary science and technology, including 11 Nobel Prizes, the transistor, UNIX, C, the laser, the solar cell, information theory, etc. The secret? Provide scientists with ample, steady, no-strings funding.

sites.stat.columbia.edu

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Reposted by Stephen J. Gotts

Stonekettle @stonekettle.bsky.social · 7d

Nationalize all Golf Courses

That way, when government shuts down, so does golf. You'll never see another shutdown again.

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Matthias Nau @matthiasnau.bsky.social · 8d

Nice demo by Mark Lescroart @neuromdl.bsky.social on EPI imaging of a single #fMRI slice. Great for teaching! :)
vimeo.com/143701608?fl...

fMRI_EPI_KspaceAcquisition_short

This is a demonstration of how a single slice of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data is collected. Before this makes any sense, you will need to understand…

vimeo.com

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Reposted by Stephen J. Gotts

Armin Raznahan @bogglerapture.bsky.social · 8d

Some news …! 🤗

So excited to get started next year, and very grateful for the opportunity.

Looking forward to connecting with friends and colleagues - old and new.

Watch this space for posting on fully funded positions as the new lab starts up !

Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford @oxfordpsychiatry.bsky.social · 9d

🔊We are delighted to announce the appointment of Armin Raznahan as the new WA Handley Professor of Psychiatry.

Professor Raznahan is a child & adolescent psychiatrist, joining us from the US National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program.

More: www.psych.ox.ac.uk/news/armin-r...

An image of Professor Armin Raznahan, Incoming WA Handley Professor of Psychiatry, with a quote from him saying: "Returning to the UK to work and learn with the remarkable community at Oxford is a real privilege. There is such a unique landscape of opportunity across the university and local NHS Trusts to both advance our understanding of the developing human brain and make a difference in the way we care for youth experiencing mental health difficulties."

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Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 8d

More NIH chaos.

NICHD, NIMHD and NIAID Directors are all dismissed.

Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist @princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 8d

Jeanne Marrazzo, director of NIAID, claimed that the Trump Administration’s actions
endangered research subjects, defied court orders & undermined vaccine research.

Earlier, Kennedy fired Susan Monarez of the CDC.

Resisting unethical policies costs you.

🧪🎁🔗
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/h...

Kennedy Fires N.I.H. Scientist Who Filed Whistle-Blower Complaint

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Stephen J. Gotts

Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 9d

I was supposed to travel next week to Purdue to give a talk about our work on recurrent brain networks.

Seminar visits are important for science: they allow the exchange of ideas to mutually advance each other's work.

The shutdown means I can't travel, and that hurts Indiana as well as NIH.

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Reposted by Stephen J. Gotts

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 9d

NEW—US Department of Education sent out standard Out of Office language to employees on Wednesday in light of shutdown. Later yesterday, workers tell me they found someone had updated their auto-responses without consent to a new one blaming Democrats.

Version of original on left, updated on right:

Thank you for your email. There is a temporary shutdown of the U.S. government due to a lapse in appropriations. I will respond to your message as soon as possible after the temporary shutdown ends. Please visit ED.gov for the latest information on the
Department's operational status.
Thank you.

Thank you for contacting me. On September 19, 2025, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5371, a clean continuing resolution. Unfortunately, Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations. Due to the lapse in appropriations I am currently in furlough status. I will respond to emails once government functions resume.

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Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Nov 24

Your reminder that many of the muscles, nerves and bones you use to hear and talk with correspond to gill structures in fish. 🧪 #evolution #paleontology

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